What Came Before
by Terra Princess of Avalone
Summary: Why did the community start so many centuries ago? Why are the rules the way they are? Told from the POV of the first Receiver of Memory. This is my first story so PLEASE REVIEW! CHAPTER 7 IS UP!
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This was an assignment for my english class that I was really proud of and decided to post. This is my idea of how the community as we know it got started and why the rules are the way they are.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything that you will recognize. I only own Alan and my other characters who'll show up in later chapters.

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From the Attendant in the Hall of Closed Records to the Receiver of Memory: 

A complete recounting of the origin of the community as recorded by the original Receiver of Memory

Receiver the First: Alan

It is over. Almost a century ago World War I was heralded as the war to end all wars. This time around it's true. There is only one spot on earth that hasn't been destroyed by the infamous alpha bombs of what is now considered World War III. That spot exists here, on the east bank of the Hudson River.

The final alpha was dropped by the last United States Marine alive somewhere in Asia only this morning. No one now exists in the entire world except for those of us hiding out in this godforsaken forest. That's funny, I said hiding. What could we possibly be hiding from now? I suppose that after a decade and a half of living each passing moment in terror, I still haven't gotten used to the idea of peace.

There is to be a community meeting in five minutes to discuss our future and the presence of every human being now alive is required. I have a feeling that humanity is not as dead as Mother Nature would like to believe.

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I know this chapter is short, and I promise the next one will be longer. This is my first story and I'm really nervous, so please, please, please review! 


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: To the three people who reviewed, thank you so much! To everyone else, please, please, please, please, please review! I'm still nervous about the story, so let me know what you think, please, I beg you!

Disclaimer: The Giver and everything associated with it is still Lois Lowry's and not mine.

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The meeting is over and I now have much to ponder. One woma- I mean older female, named Brooke seemed to take the position of leadership upon herself. One item decided upon at the meeting was that we would do away with the terms of boy, girl, woman, and man. It was more scientific to say male or female.

"I think that our top priority in our new community should be the needs of the people," she said excitedly. "That means we will have to rely heavily on science to build what we need to create a smoothly-run community."

"Wait a minute," I said. "Every possible resource in the world is gone. How are we supposed to build homes and other buildings without yellow bulldozers or any other means of mining? Not to mention, I'm certainly not the world's best – oops, well this is the world, but I hate math and science! How can I help design and engineer a city?" I blurted out this last part and heard murmurs of assent all around the tiny campfire we had managed to build.

"I will answer those questions in a few moments. But first I would like to make a proposal concerning the nature of our new community."

"Why do we need to rally as a community in the first place? Why can't we all just live our own lives?" another female named Kendra asked.

"Surely you must realize that our only chance for survival lies in interdependence? We are the last humans left on earth! We have a duty to ourselves and our fellow community members to unite and use the resources we have to survive!" No one seemed to be able to disagree with that logic, so it was decided that we were all stuck together till death do us part.

"Now as for my plan… democracies, republics, communisms, imperialism, monarchies, all of them have failed us. They're the reason that most of the world is dead and barren, because they chose to plunge us headfirst into nuclear warfare. While I certainly am opposed to anarchy, I believe that we should not base our system of government on any of those models. Instead we should make a list of rules that will govern us all. Courtesy will be of the utmost importance. If one of the minor rules is broken, the transgressor shall apologize and present him or herself for chastisement at once.

"What if a major rule is broken?" a male named Lee asked.

"Then the transgressor shall be released from our community," Brooke said icily, with a chilly steeliness creeping into her gray eyes.

No one wanted to ask what release could possibly mean. After the destruction of the earth, no one wanted to take a chance of being thrown out of the only oasis and radiation free zone. I suddenly realized, with some amusement, what Adam and Eve must have felt like in the Garden of Eden. It was ironic; they were supposed to be the first humans, and now we were either the last or the first of a different sort.

"There shall a council of Elders in the community who shall hand out Assignments and Match spouses," Brooke continued.

"You mean _arranged marriages?_ And what's this about _assigning_ jobs? What happened to _free will? _What happened to living in the _21st century?_" I thundered.

Brooke sighed exasperatedly.

"Alan, people choose wrong. Look where we are and think about why we're here. It's because leaders who were supposed to protect us failed; they made the wrong choices! Ordinary citizens like you and me have to be protected from making the wrong choices. This will be the new 21st century! You all seem to have objections to my plan. This time we'll let democracy reign. All of you will share your plans and then we'll vote. Who's first?"

Everyone shifted and looked at each other uneasily. _Let someone come up with something else,_ I desperately thought. _Anything else. _I couldn't explain why, but something didn't seem quite right to me. There was more to this plan than Brooke was letting on, I knew. But what could it possibly be? As everyone separated to find a private area to spend the night I thought about it again. What could it could it possibly be?


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks to everyone who's been reviewing! They're much appreciated. Keep 'em coming!

Disclaimer:Once again, I still don't own anything you'll recognize from the Giver. Lois Lowry still has those rights.

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When I woke up the next morning, Brooke had started to put her plan into effect; having more or less been elected Chief Elder. She was leading some others in clearing out trees for building. So this was how we would manage; by becoming the Amish.

I stretched out and walked over to the fire, which was now a medium sized blaze.

"It's like on those reality shows," Kendra laughed nervously. "Fire represents your life. As long as you have fire, you can cook game and keep yourself warm. Sausage?" She held out a plate of sausages she had bought just before she had come here to escape the alphas. I gratefully obliged.

"You won't have to worry about keeping warm when I introduce Climate Control." A male named Roy had somehow sneaked up on us and also helped himself to a sausage.

"Climate Control?" Kendra asked. "How are you going to do that?"

"Actually it's quite simple. You have a master's in chemistry, right Kendra? Well, if my calculations are accurate, then all you have to do is trap some charges in a jar of water the next time there's a storm and mix it with, oh, about a teaspoon of terraformed acid, and a quarter gram of oxmytosis. Then we let the mixture evaporate and voila, the climate will always be controlled!"

While Kendra seemed awfully impressed by this, I was rather annoyed. What were they talking about?

"Huh?" I asked.

"You've never heard of Climate Control? Well, you wouldn't have with your, er, background," Roy said in an anxious voice. He must have just recognized me when I spoke. It was well known that I had little use for science and had led many rallies in Washington to cut budget money from scientific study and add it on to the arts. Hearing about those must have been infuriating for a science-oriented guy like Roy. Of course this had all been before the War. Everything had been before the War.

"Well anyway, Climate Control is when you scientifically alter the climate in a specific area, like for instance, this one." Roy seemed nervous discussing science in front of me.

"You release a certain mixture into the air and the climate will regulate itself for eternity according to the way you create the mixture. The idea's actually not new at all. Albert Einstein actually came up with the theory a very long time ago. Recently however, scientists have discovered that it was possible and started experimenting with different formulas. Brooke asked me to introduce it here so that there would be no heat, humidity, cold, rain, sun, snow, clouds, sleet, hail, etc., etc."

"Without any of those, the mailmen will have to change their slogan."

"That's not all, Alan. I hear that Brooke plans to reshape the landscape as well. Take away hills that could potentially create problems in the transportation of goods," Roy continued, still looking a little uneasy.

"Big deal. As long as she doesn't recruit me to do any of this work, physical or scientific, I'll be happy," I replied. Kendra and Roy turned away. They had no idea that I was lying through my teeth.


	4. Chapter 4

For some reason I'm nervous about this story again, so please review! I'm begging you peoples! By the way, everyone who has reviewed, thanks!

Disclaimer:The dayI own the Giver will be the daypigs will be able to fly.

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Around mid-afternoon, Brooke came over and pulled me aside.

"I suppose you would be the draft board here to make me fight in Chief Elder Brooke's War against Nature. I shouldn't have tried to hide; I just knew I would get caught one day. Although it was nice of you to come in person. Most draft boards send a letter; it's so impersonal."

Brooke rolled her eyes.

"Don't joke about war like that! It's been twenty-nine hours since the War's been over! How can you ignore the memories of the past fifteen years?" she said aggressively.

I suddenly turned serious.

"How can you possibly say that I'm ignoring the War? How can I ignore it, when I'm the person who's arguably lost the most! My wife, son, mother, and sisters were all killed by alpha bombs on the same day! My daughter died on the way here, my camp was robbed, and I managed to survive the plague caused by radiation. A plague with a 98 mortality rate! Don't lecture me about ignoring the War; I've done my part by surviving at all! The only way to open my mouth without screaming is through sarcasm, and I'm sorry if that doesn't fit into your perfect world, but I look out for one person now, and that's me." Brooke looked a little frightened at my sudden outburst, and to be quite honest, I had scared myself. I was always outgoing, but had never been one to lash out at people. War changes everything.

"Alan, I'm so sorry. I had no idea," Brooke said in a soft and sincere voice. "But what you have just told me makes my mission all the more important. Everyone has suffered from the War and I believe that they need a distraction."

"So you want me to come up with a comedy routine?"

"You interrupted, Alan. Besides that's not at all what I'm trying to say. The suffering you have gone through has brought on great wisdom. Oh, don't look so surprised, you're wise, you simply hide it beneath your sarcastic outer shell. You also have great intelligence, with a straight A+ average through your entire school career, I know. You have integrity and you certainly contain courage in spades. You can still see colors can't you?"

The abrupt change in topic caught me off guard.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Last night you mentioned that we couldn't build anything without yellow bulldozers. You can still see color?" she clarified.

"Of course I can still see color. Can't everybody?" I asked, growing more confused with each passing sentence.

"No, Alan," Brooke said. "The alpha radiation not only bleached everyone's skin, but it also made everybody colorblind. That is, everybody except you. Therefore, it must be a special quality you have; a certain capacity to see beyond. It probably also has to do with your eyes. They're blue while everyone else's are brown."

Capacity to see beyond? At that point, I was sure that Brooke had gone mental right in front of my eyes. Where was the bossy Chief Elder that had been directing everyone since the war ended? I had absolutely no idea were she was going with this.

"As a contributing member of this fledgling community, you're not going to get away with a free ride. Instead you will be our first Receiver of Memory."

"The first _what?_" I asked.

"The job of Receiver is the most honored in the community. You will bear everyone's memories of the past so that they can concentrate on the present and I can introduce the Sameness. You will gain even more wisdom from the memories and will be called upon to help the Elders make decisions from time to time. You may ask any question of anyone and be answered. You may disregard the rues about rudeness, but then again, you probably would anyway," she said with a wry smile.

"Wait, back up. Sameness?" I asked.

Brooke grinned as if she had just gotten a two hundred on a spelling test.

"Don't you see? There will be no war ever again this way! If everyone's the same, you can't attack someone else for being different! It's completely foolproof! You will begin receiving the memories tonight. By the way, you have no say in the matter. As Chief Elder, I am officially assigning, no wrong word, selecting you to be the new Receiver of Memory. See you tonight."

Then she walked away, leaving me shocked and for once, with nothing to say and dreading what the night would bring.


	5. Chapter 5

Sorry it's taken so long to update, but here's chapter 5. Thanks to everyone who's reviewed, it's very much appreciated. Keep them coming!

**cutecess:** Brooke knows that Alan's eyes are blue, because she saw them before she turned colorblind. Also the radiation lasted for so many generations because it altered everyone's DNA.

Disclaimer: When I own the Giver, pigs will be able to fly.

It was almost dusk and I was thinking about this memory business when I was approached by a male named Noah. He was the Marine who had dropped the alpha yesterday morning. The bomb that had ended the War and destroyed every human being and piece of land left on earth.

"Hi, Alan," he said. I grunted in reply.

"Good to see you too," he muttered under his breath.

I looked up and with an air of impatience and rudeness, I asked, "Do you mind getting to the point?" Brooke was right, I decided. I would have no problems ignoring whatever crazy rules about rudeness she came up with. Noah took a deep breath.

"Don't you think that Brooke seems to have… um… a certain… um, what's the word… I suppose, bossiness about her?"

I raised an eyebrow in interest.

"Please elaborate," I said calmly. Could someone finally have been speaking what I was feeling?

"Well, is it just me, or has she taken charge without anyone else electing her to be Chief Elder? And doesn't this entire plan for the 'community' seem to overlap, at least a little bit, with the basic idea of communism? And Hitler too! With the Sameness and everything. I thought that me and my buddies were out fighting for freedom, but apparently they sacrificed their lives for nothing." Now it was my turn to take a deep breath.

"Noah," I said firmly. "How can you say that you were fighting for freedom when you bombed the second-to-last community on earth? They couldn't have come after us if they tried! You killed them and you have to live with that now. However I can see your point about Brooke and her plans. I realize that she has good intentions, but she may be going about it the wrong way. What did you have in mind; talking to her about it? I'll tell you right know that it won't work. She's too stubborn."

"You're absolutely right, something has to be done. However I was thinking of something more drastic. Maybe something like assassination," he said casually.

For the second time in one day, I was utterly shocked. I no longer wanted anything to do with Noah, his plans, or this conversation. Hadn't there been enough murder and killing? Why did we need more?

"I'm sorry, I can't help you. I won't help you. And if you push the matter, I'll do everything in my power to stop you. Enough is enough, Noah. The War's over so you don't have to be on the offensive anymore. Leave me alone!"

I backed away slowly and then started running. Memories of pain and joy, assassinations of controlling Chief Elders, it was all too much. Eventually I stopped running and I leaned on a tree. Tears flowed freely down my face, an event that hadn't occurred since I was nine. What was this world coming to? _Destruction,_ I thought bitterly. _It's coming to destruction._


	6. Chapter 6

I know I'm not great about updating quickly anyway, but I'm going on vacation for two weeks and I might not be able to for a while.

Disclaimer: This is the boring disclaimer, I do not own The Giver

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That night, Noah tried to murder Brooke. Of course the plan was ill-thought out and the rest of the community protected their new Chief Elder. Brooke glared at him with the same steeliness from the previous night creeping back into her cold, gray eyes. 

"You will be released," she said icily. "Follow me." The community let go of him, frightened and bewildered, while Noah finally realized what he had tried to do. I'd never seen such an expression of terror in my life as he followed Brooke into the forest. I never saw him again.

It's not exactly true what I said before, I have seen such fear before, in the faces of the innocent about to be vaporized by the falling alpha. Thinking about the innocent caused me to make a decision; Brooke was right. My fellow community members did not deserve to suffer like this, forever living life scarred by the memory of the stomach wrenching fear. I would take those memories of pain from them with a willing and heavy heart.

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Brooke did not return to our campsite for some time leaving the rest of to speculate what release could possibly be. Everyone agreed on one point, Noah was going to wind up Elsewhere. What no one could agree on past that point was what Elsewhere was exactly.

"It's obvious that the unfortunate male in question will end up outside of our Hudson oasis here. He will be forever banished to live in the barren, radioactive world out there. Of course he won't be able to survive without food, and the Hudson is radioactive everywhere else, so he can't drink. He will die from starvation and radioactive poisoning within a fortnight," Roy reported, pushing up his glasses.

"No, I don't think so," said Kendra. "It may start out that way, but I think that with all of the radioactivity emanating from the earth in the past fifteen years, extraterrestrial life of some kind must have detected our existence. I think that they will come to search for life here. They will undoubtedly find Noah and pick him up. Who knows what will happen from there?"

I searched her face for signs of sarcasm, but found nothing. The rest of the community started arguing amongst themselves and many farfetched theories were shared. _They know nothing, the naïve fools,_ I thought cynically. Could they be so childish so as not to know what release meant? Not to understand what Elsewhere really was?

Noah was never seen again because he was dead, and quite frankly, speaking with a corpse does not provide for any particularly stimulating conversation. Elsewhere was where everyone came from before birth and where everyone went when they died; heaven. You couldn't separate yourself from it, it would always be there to welcome you home. Of course, that is if you believe in that sort of thing, which I do.

Everyone was talking about how to separate themselves from Elsewhere so that the released and those of the community would not become confused. Rip all the trees out of the ground, they cried! Topple the hills, we want a level plain! Make everything the same! We don't want any more terror, tears, warfare, loneliness, loss, tasting of unsavory foods, crime, injustice, poverty, suffering, illness, and above all, pain. Let us live in the present. Let us live in ignorance. Let us live in peace.


	7. Chapter 7

Okay folks, here's the last chapter! Thanks so much to everyone who's reviewed!

Disclaimer: Still don't own the The Giver.

An Epilogue by Receiver the Second: Diana

So says Alan, he who trained me and became like a father to me. However, in his memory I feel it necessary to add some other developments in the community from years past.

With each passing day more rules were added. All females under Nine were to have hair ribbons tied neatly at all times. Assignments would be given out at the Ceremony of Twelve. There shall be no more automobiles, bicycles only. Family units shall have only two children: one male and one female. These were all to create a sense of order.

Stirrings were to be suppressed with pills. Children could not attend ceremonies of release. You would be released after a third offense. Citizens may not leave the dwellings after nightfall. These rules were for our own protection.

The community struggled for the first few years. At first, there were no fish in the river, cutting off a potential food supply. Then there were citizens who didn't fully agree with the Chief Elder's ideas. After sending it to a committee for study, the answer came back that those people could form their own communities somewhere near ours. Losing members was a painful blow, but it was evened out when the number of births a year jumped from 35 to 50. New jobs like Nurturers and Caretakers of the Old were created. The flora surrounding the community started to slowly grow again.

Life is perfect now, or it would be if only they understood the pain. He once said, "They know nothing." He was right.


End file.
